Düsseldorf

So this is it. My last post on my travel blog. Unbelievable that 2 months have passed by so quickly. We have left our hotel in Auckland at 11am, but when we tried to start our car the battery was empty. So we had to call the Automobile Association to get us going. We had lots of time, so that wasn't to bad, but still it is unfamilar to refuel and clean the car with the engine running. The flights from Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to Dubai and Dubai to Düsseldorf were all on time and we got our luggage in Düsseldorf, so everything was fine. So right now I enjoy quite a jetlag, but Düsseldorf shows itself from the brightest side, lots of sunshine and the spring is about to start. I very much enjoyed my trip, and I am pretty sure that this wasn't the last time I do a longer trip (hope my boss doesn't read this ;-) ).

Auckland

So this was our last full day of our holiday. We have made a small city walk around the city ending in the harbour of Auckland.

After heading back to our hotel we started again to go to Mount Eden , a nice hill giving a good view over Auckland.

Tomorrow we will have to give back our rental car and go to the airport, where our flights back to Düsseldorf will start at 6pm.
So this is it. Our last post from our holidays. Next and last post will be from Düsseldorf.

Coromandel Peninsula / sober eastern

So yesterday we went up from Rotorua to the Coromandel Peninsula to Whitiangi.
A small winding road went up there, and the landscape changed to look like the Shire from Lords of the Rings. Lots of small hills, all green with grass and trees.
When the night came we went out to find a nice bar, but all of them were only allowed to serve alcoholic beverages, when you also buy a big meal. This is a weired law on Easter Sunday to prevent people from getting drunk. I later found out, that we could have had a drink in a strip club. Wow. So as we already have had dinner, we kept beeing sober.

Not too bad, as we jumped into our car to do some stargazing out of town. Very beautiful. The stars were so clear and the milky way was very easy to see, while the southern cross shined from above.

Today we went drove to our last station in New Zealand: Auckland.

Huka Falls / Rotorua

Wow, we were really lucky with the weather. The forecast said that today should have been the best day for the Crossing, but it definitely was not.
While we went up north to Rotorua, we passed many heavy rain falls, so that we felt pity for the guys in our hostel, who waited for one more day to do the hike. It must have been horrible.

Our first stop was at the Huka Falls. We went down a small hike trail just to find out, that there was a car parking with tons of tourists. The falls were nice, sure a lovely spot for kayaking.

Next was the Waimangu Vulcan Valley, a 2 hour long hiking trail with hot acid pools, geysirs, fountains and boiling lakes. It was an impressive landscape, quite unique and something you sure can't see in Europe.

Tongariro Crossing

Yesterday we went further north to Turangi.
The weather was really bad, lots of rain and wind. Not the best conditions , as the plan for today was to do the Tongariro Crossing.

We got up at 5 am in the morning, quite a job during the holiday, and drove to Ketetahi Car Park, where we left our car and jumped into a bus. The bus took us to the starting point, Mongatepopo. At 7am we started our hike.

I had done this track 8 years ago, but I forgot that it was quite exhausting. And this time we were very lucky with the weather, good view until but the very end.
So I was able to see Mount Ngauruhoe ( Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings),

the red crater

and the Emerald Lakes.

After 6 1/2 hours and 19,4 km we reached our car.
For dinner I made my famous Chili con Carne alla Joeman. But I am so tired that I don't know how to keep awake until tonight.

Wellington

Bye, bye South Island.
This morning we stood up early to catch the Interislander Ferry from Picton to Wellington. We sailed across the Cook Street where a school of dolphins escorted us.
In Wellington we visited the Te Papa Museum, which is said to be the best museum in New Zealand. Well, you can spend days in it, but we just had 2 hours.
After a small diet coffee (iced coffee with vanilla ice cream and a marshmallow stick covered in chocolate)

we continued to Plimmerton , our hostel for the next night. This is our view out of our window..

Marlborough Sounds

Yesterday we travelled from Ngatimoti to the Hopewell BBH hostel, the best rated hostel in New Zealand.
It's located in the Marlborough Sounds at the end of a road even Google Maps doesn't know.
It is quite a long drive down there, 2 1/2 hours per way, but we were rewarded by a nice swim in the Fjord and a hot spa under cloudless skies while watching the moon. Wonderful.

Today we went back the whole way to get to our last station on the south island. So now we are at the tombstone hostel in Picton. Tomorrow we will be taking the ferry to Wellington.